Goldie Luxe
In this interview, Goldie Luxe discusses “Touch the Sky,” artistic self-discovery, burlesque, queer culture, and the empowering pop sounds shaping her upcoming second album, The Swan.
1. Your new single “Touch the Sky” was originally created for one of your burlesque performances. How did the song evolve from a stage routine into the empowering pop anthem we hear today?
It was one of my first burlesque routines and I was quite nervous. I wrote the song almost as a mantra for myself. It was really meant to psych myself up, and say, “you’ve got this.”
The song wasn’t really complete when I performed it the first few times. It had this big spot in the middle that was just an instrumental break. And I realized I needed to fill it and so that spoken word part was born. I ended up improving it in different ways each time I performed and I was really speaking directly to the audience in that moment.
That’s when it shifted for me. I realized the song was more about empowering my audience more than empowering myself. It became less self-reflective, “you’ve got this” to “look I’m doing something scary that I’ve always wanted to try, don’t you want to do that too?”
When I went back into the studio to record it. I reworked some of the lyrics and I tried turning that middle section into a sung bridge, but it just wasn’t as effective. So the theatrical spoken word section remained.
2. The story of the ugly duckling plays a central role in “Touch the Sky.” What does this transformation symbolize for you personally, and how does it reflect your journey as an artist?
It’s funny it really all started thinking about swans in general. I was given the task of trying to embody an animal’s physicality by my burlesque coach and mentor Vixen DeVille. And I chose a swan. I just thought they were so elegant and have such mythos around them.
And then from there it sort of rolled into me thinking about the story we all know so well. The outsider judged by the group they don’t fit in with, only to discover they’re so much more than what others thought.
I resonated with it so strongly. Because at the end of the day it isn’t a story of transformation really. The ugly duckling was never a duck, it was cygnet, a swan. As an artist, I felt like I was constantly put into these boxes that just didn’t fit. I was too classically inclined. I liked too many differing genres. My voice was too masculine or too loud. I didn’t blend in. I fought all of it. And that push against those boxes really defined the early part of my career. My first album, The Debutante, was electronic genre anarchy in a lot of ways.
And I think my greatest transformation is realizing I don’t need to push against others expectations, I just need to be myself and create the music that feels authentic to me. I’m sitting so much more comfortably in who I am as an artist and who I am as a person.
3. Your music brings together glamorous pop, electronic sounds, and theatrical elements. How have artists like Britney Spears and producers like Timbaland influenced your musical identity?
I’m such a huge Britney fan. I grew up listing to her music. She was inescapable. Just a total pop tour-de-force. I loved those first 5 albums so much. They’re big, anthemic, and oh so catchy. I’ve been trying to be a student. What makes those hooks so irresistible?
Look at the bridge of “Oops… I did it Again,” Is there anything more theatrical than those like 15 seconds. We have a clear sonic world showing she’s at a train station and this guy is giving her the diamond from Titanic. I mean it’s incredible. It’s kind of camp even. I mean what can you say? Genius.
Lady Gaga is really the queen of theatricality though and she’s been a huge influence as well. I’m trying to learn from the pop juggernauts and what I listen to on repeat. They’re big, brash, and sparkly. Just like the music I’m making now.
As for Timbaland what can be said? He’s a brilliant. I mean from all those incredible Missy collabs to the pop projects he did with Justin Timberlake. It’s so major. His use of samples is still so ground breaking even listing today. Like take “Pony” by Genuwine. The main beat had a skidding car in it. It’s incredible. The burp bass? It will have you in a chokehold in the first two bars!
I’m a huge fan of Nelly Furtado’s album “Loose.” That really feels like peak Timbaland to me. He produced the majority of the tracks on the album. I just love how sexy those tracks are. “Do it”, “Maneater”, “Promiscuous”, “Say it Right” ? They’re all so good. Timbaland really shines when he weaves himself into the tracks. He really masters his layered percussive beat boxing that is sometimes doubled with synth drums and sometimes shines on its own. He is an instrument in his arsenal of production tools. Sometimes he’s making synth sound or his signature “eh, eh’” or rapping. Also there are these very theatrical world-building moments on this album that are these little interludes that are often in-studio back and forth between Timbaland and Furtado. It’s made a huge impact on me. World-building is so key to what I do.
I’m really influenced by his out-of-the-box thinking, his unconventional sample choices, and his genre blending. He really created much of the sound of the 2000s and I just love that music. I grew up listening to it. It’s really been infused into my own music creation.
Also, I’d be remiss not to give credit to Danja who produced or co-produced nearly all of Loose, and actually brings me back full circle to Britney. One of my favorite tracks of all time is “Break the Ice” from Blackout which he also produced. Its incredible. Do yourself a favor and go re-listen to it.
4. Burlesque, fashion, and queer culture are essential parts of your artistic universe. How do these different forms of expression come together to shape the Goldie Luxe experience?
Okay I’m obsessed with “the Goldie Luxe experience.” Ha. Well fashion has always been a core pillar of my identity. I remember stealing my mother’s InStyle and Vogue magazines as a kid and just pouring over the pages. I was obsessed with Natalia Vadianova. I thought she was so gorgeous.
I would sketch out entire fashion collections as a little kid. And just imagine whole fairytale worlds in my head that were infused with Versace and Dior. Ugh, god, look up Dior Haute Couture Fall ’05. It’s so haunting. Galliano went back through basically the whole history of Dior the man himself and then the history of the house. It’s ghostly and deconstructed. Its like a gothic haunted atelier in the middle of making a hundred years of fashion history. Its stunning.
Anyway, my love for fashion was super internal. I wasn’t supposed to steal those magazines. I’m a trans woman and this was wayyyy before I transitioned. I had very traditional conservative parents who believed strongly in gender roles. And who I was, how I acted, what I loved were all just not okay in their eyes.
When I finally grew up and found my own way in the world I was able to find others who also loved watching 90s Mugler runway shows on YouTube. I ended up in New York where I worked in corporate fashion for a while. At night I was part of a new wave of club kids. We would all get dressed up and dance till the sun came up. I was super inspired by all the fashions I loved and would experiment with different looks in the clubs. I sometimes call this era of my life my “Menace in a fur coat” period. HA! I was a mess! It was fun though. Fun and a little exhausting. Take care of yourself kids. There’s more to life than the party. Drink water. Get sleep. Coffee and cigarettes don’t count as a meal.
Still there’s something transcendent about queer nightlife. I think I was a little addicted to it. You can be free. So many queer kids know that feeling of finally letting loose on the dance floor of a queer space. It’s total liberation.
These experiences are just so interwoven into who I am. The music I make is infused with that. I think for so long I felt stifled, suffocating in an environment where I just couldn’t be myself, that now I make music with that liberation in mind. For me, fashion is liberation. Nightlife and queer culture is freedom.
Burlesque was something I had always wanted to try for years! And I think some of my conservative upbringing lingered in the back of my mind. I mean my father still can’t get himself to say the world burlesque. Ha bless him, he calls it my ‘dancing.” But burlesque is one more step into being myself. It blends the fashion and the fantastic that I so loved as a child. And it is infused with bodily liberation. There is no stronger feeling than being up on that stage and having the room at your complete control. I am woman hear me roar!
I’m making music that’s meant to make you feel beautiful, sexy, and free. That’s the Goldie Luxe experience.
5. Your upcoming second album, The Swan, promises a new musical chapter inspired by the pop, R&B, and hip-hop sounds of the 1990s and 2000s. What can listeners expect from this record, and how does it differ from your debut album, The Debutante?
Oh it’s a full 180 absolutely. The Debutante was an exploration in all the genres I was listening to at the time. It’s one part house, one part jazz, one part singer-songwriter piano ballad all mashed through an electronic kaleidoscope lens. I was in such a rebellious headspace that I felt the drive to push against convention so hard. I mean “Tribute (to My Girls)” changes time signatures numerous times. Ha.
The Swan is a much more focused project for sure. I’m going back to those elements that made me who I am. The fashion, the music I loved growing up. It’s more anthemic for sure. And I think on that first album I sat in my pain a bit. This is an album about empowerment. I don’t sit anymore. This is an album about getting up, dusting yourself off, standing tall, then soaring to your greatest potential.
I’d for sure say this is a pop record. It’s sparkly. And it draws heavily on the work of everyone from the Spice Girls to Mariah Carey. Like I’ve said I’ve become a student. I’m spending hours just trying to absorb the music of Gwen Stefani, Missy Elliot, Christina Aguilera, Destiny’s Child, Ricky Martin, the boy bands. You can expect music that makes you want to sing into your hairbrush while standing on your bed and music that makes you want to shimmy while covered in rhinestones.
6. “Touch the Sky” encourages people to embrace their individuality and pursue their dreams without limitations. What message would you like to share with those who are still struggling with self-doubt or afraid to show the world who they truly are?
Do the scary thing. I know it’s hard. I was terrified to finally try burlesque and I’m grown. I’ve done the work. I’ve journaled and gone to therapy. I’ve dissected my traumas and understood my anxieties. I’d pushed past outside expectations to come out and to transition. I faced crowds to sing and perform. But I was still afraid. I let myself sit back for years because of that fear. But in the back of my mind, there was that voice that said, “You’ve got to try this.”
That voice wont go away. The fear won’t go away. You’ll never feel more ready. Push through the self-doubt. You’ve got this. And you know what? You might just fall flat on your face the first time. You probably will. I did. I have countless times. Don’t give up.
Overnight success is an illusion. It’s years of putting in the work and then people finally see it. So start now. Wear the outfit you think others might say is “too much.” Take the pottery class. Go to that open mic. Go to a queer space. Flirt with that girl or guy or NB person. Everything worthwhile is on the other side of fear. You’ve got this.